Congratulations, you signed up for a CardRunners membership and are ready to improve your play and become a winning (or better) poker player. Your mind starts spinning and you think about the increased win-rate, the new found riches, and the glory of being a card shark. You are ready to pop your poker-training cherry and load up a random video based off the number of comments and the high-rating that the video has. Now what?

I receive dozens of private messages each month from new members asking about the most effective method and practice in watching training videos. Here are the keys to maximizing your time spent on watching training videos:

Give it your undivided attention - We live in a world where multi-tasking is the norm. Whether it be driving while listening to music or browsing the internet while grinding at the tables, we're programmed to be doing multiple things at once. When you sit down to watch a video, pay attention and minimize distractions. Resist the urge to be IM'ing or browsing 2p2 with the video playing in the background. Give the video your full attention and actively take notes while watching the video.

Think Think Think! - When watching a video, avoid the habit of thinking of the game in such a formulaic manner. Understand the application and the logic of a decision that a coach makes (i.e., 3betting a suited connector in position because of Dynamic XYZ) as opposed to thinking "I have hand X, I saw JBaller 3bet it, so I should every time). Look at the big picture and ask yourself questions and take a macro-perspective when considering lines and rationale behind a video instructor's play. If you don't know the reason, well, that is why we have video comments.

Resonate with an Instructor - We have nearly a hundred instructors at CR. Undoubtedly there will be some whose teaching style, voice, or articulation resonates best with you. Find a couple pros that you 'click' with and watch their videos. Not only does this provide you with some structure when selecting videos to watch, but it also will ensure that the quality of time you are spending watching videos is at its highest.

Provide Feedback - This sort of ties into the previous point, but people often fear asking a possible 'dumb' question in our video comments. Embrace the community and don't be afraid to leave comments to ideas/concepts you don't understand. Training sites are a service to YOU and we are willing to do whatever it takes to help make you a better player. Believe it or not, coaches thrive off feedback from viewers. There is nothing more attractive for a coach than to release a video and get 100 video comments on it. Whether the comments be good or bad, this type of feedback plays a huge role in influencing future videos and continuing to better their product. So ASK!

Quality vs Quantity - I know we put out a lot of content each week and it can be difficult to keep up. Don't sweat it. It is much more effective to watch a video for 20 minutes while engaged and actively thinking, as opposed to trying to watch 3 videos a week just to make sure you see every video we publish. Splice videos into two separate viewings if you find it tough to stay engaged for the entire 50-60 minutes of a video.

Anyways, while the above components are successful practices when watching videos, it's important to understand your personal strengths and weaknesses when studying. Some people learn by taking exorbitant amounts of notes while others absorb through visuals.

Good Luck!

I'm very excited about the new video series that debuted today at CardRunners. The Quickie is going to be a shorter iPhone compatible video series that covers a variety of topics including specific hands, member-submitted HHs, or concepts and theories that require brief lectures.

Members have been wanting some more mobile device-compatible content and there have also been requests for content that doesn't require an hour to watch. This is an answer to all those requests.

These videos will cover pretty much any game and topic and should be very convenient to access and view during your commute, lunch-break, or right before you fire up a session.

I'm eager to hear some feedback on ideas or specific topics/concepts that you guys would like to see in future episodes, so please feel free to drop me a comment here.

If I'm wrong, then this will be the final entry into this blog. It's been fun to share my thoughts and read some of your comments through the years and I hope all of you are saved through the hellfire and brimstone of the aftermath of these devastating earthquakes that will strike in about 29 hours (6p locally).

I wanted to write a little about the crazies who are spreading the fear and word of Rapture and Judgment Day on May 21 2011 as well as a discussion about fear-mongering, in general. As a disclaimer, I am an advocate for individual thought, differences in religious views/faith, and diversity. So now that we got that out of the way...

Let's talk Doomsdayers first. I think it's pathetically depressing that there are so many humans in this world who believe in this idiot Harold Camping and his random predictions. I mean, the guy has predicted 2 other dates where the world was supposedly ending in the 90's, which obviously didn't come true, and I still see news features about these clowns dumping their life-savings, abandoning their jobs, and even some abandoning their kids in prep for tomorrow!

Humans are the most advanced species on this planet and it amazes me the number of sheep among us in mankind who don't have the ability to think and make their own decisions. These tens (or presumably hundreds) of thousands of people are blindly following the beliefs of some man, and when presented with the question as to why they believe him, their answers are a simple "because he said so."

It may seem hypocritical for me to call myself as an embracer of diversity and then to rip on these sheep, but it really enrages me when I hear about these parents who are blowing their savings for 5/21, ultimately hurting the future of themselves, but more importantly their kids. I've heard and read interviews with kids whose parents are Doomsdayers and they grow up in such a twisted home with parents who lack motivation or care because they think they'll be teleported to Heaven. So May 22 2011 and onwards is inconsequential for their livelihood.

This fear-mongering has been pervasive throughout our media both in current events and the poker world. From Alex Jones and FEMA camps to the hundreds of sudden-experts on 2p2 who can interpret the law or have the 'inside story' on the indictments, the weak get preyed on and begin to buy-in to the garbage being preached.

People forget that we're in a capitalistic society where figures like Alex Jones and Harold Camping have financial incentives to build fear and profit from ignorance. The same goes in poker, where some people have found opportunities to spread fear to devalue the price of UB/FTP monies (in an attempt to buy its futures at a lower rate), Tweet news articles without consideration of their reliability and source to gain followers, or to get their 15 minutes of fame and rocks off by sharing their 'expertise' in a NVG thread for some clueless noob.

So in about 14 hours I guess we'll learn if this is real. If I start reading about Australia suffering devastating earthquakes, atleast I'll be grinding some live PLO and die in a casino with a bunch of strangers who are trying to win each other's money.

See you on the other side.

Brief Trip Report Blog post:

CR Pro and Stud 8/b specialist Eric "ChipsAhoya" Rodawig flew into town to meet up with a group for some fun in the Windy City. I ended up playing a good deal of poker with him, CR mod skoldpadda, and CR Razz Pro Steve Albini on Friday night. I lost my Pot-Limit Eight or Better Virginity that night.

On Saturday we went to the local casino and played some HORSE/PLO. This fish stopped by with a Georgetown hat and sat down across the table from me.

Shortly after being seated, he proceeded to pull the most absurd and amateurish triple-string bluff bet that got sniped off by a calling station in the game. Imagine a WSOP final tabler place a bet out and return to his chips on three separate occasions to add to the bet. The dealer looked at him like he should be wearing a helmet and pool floaties! His $40 bet ended up being sniped off by some slightly better mediocre holding.

Here's an example of how good he runs though. Eric asked the floor to play over a missing player at our table. He does this and by some miracle a seat opens. He occupies the seat and then plays for another three hours before his name actually gets called from the waiting list for the very game he was seated in!

Anyways, I left the game and met up the next morning to catch the Reds vs Cubs. Our seats were 2nd row right near home plate.

Our view:

VCU Head Coach Shaka Smart threw out the first pitch for some reason:


Me and Eric:

We were on TV... caught not paying attention to the game:

It was the poker-world's equivalent to Hulk Hogan joining the nWo or baseball's equivalent if Derek Jeter decided to retire as a Red Sock. A few months ago, Prahlad Friedman shocked everyone by signing with UltimateBet - the organization that had stolen millions from the community and somehow remained afloat.

Mahatma was rumored to be the largest victim whose pockets were raped by Russ Hamilton and Potripper. Along with dozens, and presumably hundreds of others on the UB network, Friedman lost hundreds of thousands (if not millions) as a result of playing the superuser accounts. Mike Matusow and Brad Booth famously talked about how these losses to the superusers crushed their confidence and affected their lives both at and away from the tables and lead to stress, depression, and a shrinking bankroll. It was greed and theft in its most malicious form - and yet UB lived.

The Kahnawake Gaming Commission investigated the site and hand histories were collected and analyzed. Despite not achieving full transparency and withholding/"losing" some of the data, UB issued refunds and considered the matter closed. People cried that the refunds weren't 100% accurate and money was still owed. These demands fell on deaf ears. It was blatant dishonesty - and yet UB lived.

So a few months ago, Prahlad Friedman, one of the last standing free agents of poker, decided to align with the company and become the face of the poker room. He reemerged as the heads-up nosebleed specialist and regularly played the highest games available on the site, clearly displaying his newfound trust and faith in the company.

So it's May 4 and rumors and evidence suggesting that AP/UB are filing for bankruptcy are flooding the internet forums amid concerns and doubts that UB has the liquidity to repay player balances. Apparently their offices have been vacated and 95% of their staff reduced.

It's easy to sympathize with those who have large sums of money on UB, a place where they assumed their balances were safe and that their money was in safe hands, but it's difficult not to think express special sympathy toward Prahlad.

He presumably deposited or kept a six-figure+ bankroll on UB as a sponsored player and put his reputation on the line. Given his high-standing in the community, I can only assume he was duped or mislead by management regarding the 'new' company, a clear lie. Instead it is pretty amazing to see one singular person get screwed-over in such a magnitude by the same company twice within a few years for such large sums of money.

Meanwhile, Annie Duke and Phil Hellmuth are off sipping Mai Tai's and getting tramp stamps...

When shit goes bad, it's pretty normal for human-response to be to identify a person as the target or the villain and make them the face of the circumstance, whether rational or not. Just like in poker, where there is a hero, there is a villain. It's been pretty interesting to read all the blogs, posts, and articles documenting and sharing the thoughts by hundreds of FKAAOP (Formerly Known as an online pro). I've been amazed at the range of hate and who to blame.

Let's examine who some of the candidates and arguments/merits:

Daniel Tzvetkoff - The young hotshot multi-millionaire who apparently was a crucial mole in the uncovering of the processes used by the poker sites to facilitate funds. Rumored to have been making upwards of $150k a day when he worked with the poker rooms, he was eventually arrested and purportedly flipped. His detailed knowledge and intricate understanding of the poker site operations may have been key in the indictments that were handed down.

Barack Obama - He's the POTUS and oversees everything right? It's his government and he gets final say about all legislation handed down. That hypocritical and potentially Kenyan-born charmer who has expressed his like for the game of poker. How could he betray the millions of us who enjoyed the game? Seriously though, to blame him as the reason that we can't play online is quite ridiculous. As much as we want to pretend that ceasing of online poker is the end of the world, there are far bigger things for him to focus on. FWIW, he was born in Hawaii.

Vegas Casinos - Clearly these companies had the DoJ in their pockets the whole time. They have an obvious financial incentive to shut down Stars/FTP whether it be to enter the internet poker market themselves or to drive traffic and increase play at the Brick & Mortars. Rather than care about the growth of the game of poker, these scumbags are just looking out for the zeros in their bank accounts and the growth in their rake.

SW DoJ - This is a move towards politics. The lead attorney Preet Barara targeted these sites as a means to advance his own career. He really doesn't care but he knows that this will be a high-profile case with potentially billions at stake and it's the next step for him and his office to pad their resumes and build their legacy.

FTP/PS/AP - These guys knew it all along and didn't warn players. They willingly broke the rules and gave us, the poker player, no warning about what would happen or advice on how to keep our things safe. They did too little to help avoid this situation.

The Player - We willingly participated in a grey-area industry for hundreds and thousands of dollars. Despite warning signs like our cashouts coming from golf stores, we foolishly thought that the status-quo would live forever. We exposed ourselves to the danger of possibly having the doors closed and we didn't do enough to get it regulated/etc.

Did I miss anyone? I ask you, who do you think is the bad-guy?

If you have a hand history or a poker concept/theory idea that you would like to see tackled by one of CardRunners Pros, email us!

If it's a HH, either send us a copy of the hand history or a link of it converted in our forums. Include all the relevant information to help us! Stats, history, reads, etc. The more information you provide, the more likely it'll be picked.

If it's a concept or theory question, be specific! The more details that you provide us, the better.

Email us the information at cardrunnershh@gmail.com. Feel free to send multiple hands/emails too!

If you have questions drop me a comment.

I'm lying here in bed 10 days removed from Black Friday and it's pretty incredible to reflect as to how quickly things change. As many of you can imagine, things have been pretty hectic here around the CR office in light of the recent events and we are adapting. We've launched some pretty exciting offers for members including new TFPT deals with Party and Titan as well as some other offers tied into those sites (free CR, HM, etc).

I've spoken to hundreds of members and several dozen pros and it's so interesting to see what everyone is up to. Some pros are embracing this time as an opportunity to travel and 'live a little' while others are quickly adapting to the Brick & Mortar casinos and planning to play a full schedule there. A few pros have quickly found new ways to occupy their time and others continue to hit F5 on their browser every hour in hopes of a remedy or solution to the cashout problems faced with the sites.

I went to the local casino this past weekend and wanted to check out how different the games have changed. I forgot that it was also a holiday, so that adds a little spike in the poker rooms' traffic, but I've never seen the room so busy before. There was such a wide array of games being spread from $200NL up to $1k half PLO/NLHE and 20/40 PLO and 40/80 HORSE. Lists were hundreds deep and it was impossible to get seated.

I ended up getting my name on the list for $200NL, $500NL, $200PLO, $500PLO, $1k mix, and $20/$40 HORSE. My name slowly crept up the board and I was finally called for a seat at the $200PLO game.

The game basically plays as a $2/$5 game since straddles were practically on every hand and I was very excited to see if this PLO interest was spurred by the recent episodes of Poker After Dark. I was completely amazed at how poorly the games played. I was going to dissect some hands but I don't really feel in the mood. I'll just say that the highlight of my night was a x/r on the river with the bare Ad in a 550bb pot and getting the guy to lay down the 3rd nuts. He proceeded punt off the rest of stack by getting QQxx all in preflop for 200bbs after I showed the bluff.

Anyways from everything I heard from the dealers, floor, and regulars, the games have been running at an insane rate. There was a noticeable increase in younger guys in the games and most of them wore their FTP/PS gear (lol) so I assume they are normally internet grinders.

I hope to get to the casino again sometime in May and to see if this trend continues. It'd be amazing if the PLO games were running with a bit more regularity as they are just so much more fun to play and sweat after you fold. In addition to that, games have just been unimaginably easy and it's too good to last.

P.S. - Sorry my blogs have sucked lately. Not much to talk about but I plan to write more 'themed' blogs soon.

The events of last Friday kind of made me think... will online poker players remember the exact moment or place they were at when the news broke that the DoJ closed the doors of FTP, UB, AP, and PS? I'm hardly trying to compare the events to a historic tragedy like 9/11, JFK, or the Challenger, but the event was probably significant enough that poker players will remember that day for the rest of their lives. So where were you?

Twitter-verse and the poker world have been ablaze with people feeding news nuggets, both factual and speculative, as well as blips of advice. US players have been chomping at the bit to get their funds back into their bank accounts (I can't blame them) and hundreds of foreign players have been reducing their cashiers in fear of bankruptcy or lack of liquidity by the major sites.

It's been pretty interesting to read and monitor all the news and thoughts from some of the notable names in the poker world. Individuals like Tom Dwan have been entertaining some questions on Twitter while Daniel Negreanu has blogged about tackling the games at Aria. Some online pros have been talking about taking a vacation to escape the madness and others are starting to look for new jobs. Whether you are a $50NL recreational player or a $1kNL pro, it's pretty amazing the various responses to adversity.

Some guys have upwards of six-figures online locked up and frozen but are trusting faith and goodwill to pass the time. They expect the sites to be fully accountable for players' funds and view this as a small little speed bump. Meanwhile some players who may have a few hundred dollars online are freaking out as if the government committed armed robbery.

While I don't have the answers, I think that this is a very good learning experience for everyone. I'm dumbfounded by the number of people who have talked about having 80%+ of their liquid net worth online. Not only is this fiscally irresponsible but it also exposes you to much unneeded stress and heartache (in the event something catastrophic occurs). Hopefully when all the dust settles, hundreds of people will realize the importance of diversifying their money and avoiding the placement of all their eggs in a single basket.

With that said, if you haven't checked out some of the content that we've published at CR, please do so. We've gotten some great interviews with formidable guests who have experience in the legal /poker industry and it should give an angle from multiple perspectives. I also released a video today covering the options for US based players who may be considering joining a poker room that is still taking Americans. Hopefully it's useful for everyone. Lastly, Lana did a good interview/podcast with Joe Kelly, a business law professor who has made appearances at CR in the past

Keep your head up guys and just stay informed of the news. There isn't really much we can do at this point aside from being proactive in raising awareness and keeping a professional attitude. As tempting as it is to drop slurs and profanity on the Department of Justice's Facebook page, it'll do more harm than good. Stay tactful and stay involved.

But this is not a situation where I feel the sky is falling.

Poker Doomsday 2011 is in full-force and Twitter feeds are igniting with sadness, anger, and rage towards the Department of Justices's decision to indict Full Tilt, UltimateBet, and PokerStars.

It's important that people start thinking rationally. While it's certainly a pain in the ass that these sites are in legal limbo, this crackdown was something that people should have seen coming.

How can people possibly believe that a crackdown of these major sites wasn't inevitable? It would be literally impossible for a new site to penetrate the poker market without the removal of these big fish from the poker pond. While the actions of the DOJ were more reminiscent of a shock-and-awe strategy as opposed to a gradual withdrawal of US presence (you like that US War allusion?), this crackdown could potentially be the greatest thing to happen for online poker.

This could be the beginning of a tremendously game-changing era and have some awesome long-term effects. The removal of FTP and PS from the scene will drive Brick & Mortar casinos to develop their software and position themselves to pounce on the market as soon as there is regulation.

The bottom line is that poker is VERY lucrative and the government knows this. There is no way that the government is going to disallow poker forever; money and revenue is the lifeblood of our government and there is just too much green for them to refuse.

Enough ranting. Just keep a level-head and sit back and stay educated on the happenings. I for one, am very intrigued by the upcoming days/weeks in the poker world.